BORIS JOHNSON HAS insisted the “golden rule” is to “focus on what we are doing”, after revealing he is planning to be in office into the 2030s.
It comes as pressure has been mounting on the Conservative leader from across the political divide following the Tories’ stinging by-election defeats in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton.
Johnson said during a trip to Rwanda this weekend that he is “thinking actively” about fighting the next two general elections to become the longest-serving post-war leader.
Asked at the G7 summit in Germany today if his aspirations are delusional, Johnson said: “What I’m saying is this is a Government that is getting on with delivering for the people of this country and we’ve got a huge amount to do.”
He said the “golden rule” is to “focus on what we are doing” – to address the cost of living, the “massive” plan for a stronger economy, and “making sure that the UK continues to offer the kind of leadership around the world that I know our people want”.
Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis said the PM’s desire to look “long-term” when it comes to his leadership “has got to be a good thing”.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said he sees in Johnson “drive and enthusiasm for what we want to achieve for our country”, and that kind of “zest” is to be celebrated.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “We often get criticised in politics when we look short-term, at just the next day, the next election, the next vote.
“Actually we’ve got somebody as Prime Minister who wants to be looking long-term at how we structurally improve our country for generations to come. That has got to be a good thing.”
Johnson has urged Tory MPs plotting to oust him not to focus on the issues he has “stuffed up”, after his authority was further diminished by a Cabinet resignation.
Oliver Dowden stood down as Tory party co-chairman in the wake of the by-election defeats, saying he and Conservative supporters are “distressed and disappointed by recent events” and telling the Prime Minister that “someone must take responsibility”.
But Johnson set his sights on being in office in the “mid 2030s”, in a run that would see him outlast Margaret Thatcher’s reign.
Asked by journalists at the British high commissioner’s residence in Kigali if he would lead his party into the next election, he said: “Will I win? Yes.”
In buoyant mood, he added: “At the moment I’m actively thinking about the third term and what could happen then, but I will review that when I get to it.”
Labour, meanwhile, challenged the Tories to call an early election, with leader Keir Starmer telling Johnson: “Bring it on.”
There are suggestions of a challenge to change the rules of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs in order to allow another vote of confidence in Johnson within the next year.
Asked in Rwanda if he believed questions over his leadership were settled, Johnson replied: “Yes.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say